Use this table to roll for random dangers the posse encounters if it tries to escape Rulamer by land. Subtract 2 from rolls on this table if the posse has no guide.
d6 Result
1 Bridge out, new route needs to be found.
If the posse let her go on her own way, they need to try to navigate the treacherous landscape without a guide. If they join her, they’ve got one hell of a fight ahead of them.
Assassin Squad!
Arriving at Renard Imports & Exports, Milli and the steadfast cowpokes find the place all locked up, shades drawn and windows shuttered, though clearly a lantern glows within.
Inside Wei Lei and her fanatical fellow warriors have Renard tied to a chair and gagged in the study, while they pore over a hastily sketched map of Rulamer and discuss—in Chinese—whether to assault Bedivere Webbe or Brun Demarais first, and what ploy to use to gain access to their headquarters.
Creative players might suggest any number of methods to gain access, from the use of some gizmo or power, to Lockpicking rolls, even creating a loud diversion or just knocking on the front door. They might even wait to see if Wei Lei makes the first move, in which case they set out for Webbe’s estate after roughly an hour of planning.
We’ll leave the exact circumstances up to you and your posse, Marshal, but until then Wei Lei and her nest of rattlesnakes await in Renard’s place. All the while, fusillades of cannon fire continue to rain down upon the pirate cove.
Wei Lei: Wild Card. See page 125.
Wei Lei’s Warriors (8): Use Rail Warrior stats in the Deadlands Marshal’s Handbook, adding Strength d8. They are armed with Chinese swords (Str+d6).
Gettin’ Outta Dodge
Once the assassins are dispatched or the posse retreats in defeat, Schork gives directions. If the rescuers failed to get Renard, they’d better think of another plan and execute it quickly—Milli won’t leave without her beloved Sournois. The exporter retrieved, they rush down back alleys and
courtyards, around tight corners, and across half-destroyed bridges. Roll twice on the Random Difficulties table along the way.
Finally the party runs past a small, wood-framed house, and finds themselves staring from a sheer cliff at the water below. Schork insists they move a sizeable rock, which hides a narrow tunnel leading downward and a rope ladder. The ladder leads down to a tiny cove sheltered by high cliffs. A steam launch bobs on the waves, this one named the Graceful Exit.
First Mate John Tucker is already onboard, prepping the ship to cast off. Good timing, too, as once the fleeing sodbusters board, one of Kang’s junks, armed to the teeth and packed with Maze rats, sails past the narrow entrance to the cove, having found one of the two narrow straits leading to the hidden city. They don’t notice the Graceful Exit unless the cowpokes’ escape has been too easy for your liking, Marshal.
Barring any further trouble the launch sails out with none the wiser, and Milli makes good on her promise to take the buckaroos to whatever port they want to visit.
Aftermath
The city of Rulamer shudders as cannon fire hits it in continuous waves. A tremendous crack and roar sees half the city demolished, falling into the ocean.
At that point all resistance is shattered, the gangs either dead or fled into the rice paddies. The rice farmers were smart enough to hide in their root cellars moments after the cannon fire started!
It’s up to the Marshal which of the city’s locals survived or perished in the barrage. If Wei lived, she swears bloody vengeance upon the people who prevented her from executing Kang’s will. For the time being, she’s put in charge of Rulamer’s reconstruction as a settlement firmly under Kang’s control.
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Wagonsend took its name from the literal cause of its foundation. A traveling sideshow hit upon rough times, their wagons falling ever further into disrepair.
When it was decided their tour could go no further, they decided to settle in for a spell. Once rooted, however, their wagons gained stone foundations instead of new wheels. Over time, they accepted the area they’d settled in as home.
J. T. Boniface, proprietor of the original entertainment troupe and one of the town’s founders, had a visionary idea.
Instead of traveling all around the West, why not make the people come to the show? Clear of purpose, he planned
Wagonsend in part as a permanent circus, another part home to the circus folk who work there, and partly a base for other traveling sideshows during off months and between tours. He supposed a grounded structure would allow more elaborate performances than a mobile circus could ever have dreamed of, and a fortuitous convergence of rail lines nearby helped his cause immensely.
So determined, Boniface spent most of his savings and liquidated all of his traveling equipment to build permanent fairgrounds.
Within the year J. T. Boniface’s Circus of Wonders opened and made back its initial investment, and then some. Word spread,
Wagonsend
Wagonsend
and visitors came to Wagonsend from all around to see daredevils perform the most spectacular stunts known in the West.
Furthermore, the city grew prodigiously as businesses opened to support not just the visitors but circus folk of all stripes.
Keeping to his original vision, Boniface used circus terminology whenever possible in developing a local government. Even the titles of city officials are right out of the big top, with Boniface installing himself as the first “Ringmaster” (that’s Mayor to you and me, amigo) of Wagonsend. Although Boniface was an exemplary businessman, the matters of government escaped him.
He soon abdicated his position to a more bureaucratic member of his retinue. Three Ringmasters later, the city is strongly
positioned to become a rarity in the Weird West—a town that thrives purely on its entertainment value.
For a typical Western settler, accustomed only to farm or ranch life, Wagonsend can be a very disconcerting place. Conversely, the place is a relaxing refuge for the traveling sideshows, vaudevillians, freaks, geeks, and carnies who make a living roaming the West. It’s an ideal place to make repairs on specialized equipment, mend tents, and swap tricks of the trade. Moreover, Wagonsend is the place where they’re free to be themselves, without putting on false airs or hiding their appearances. Truly the town lives up to its nickname,
“Weirdest Town in the West.”
THE CITy NOW
Region: Deseret, Great Northwest, or Disputed Territories
Fear Level: 3
Wagonsend is grandiose and vulgar all at once. For first-time visitors, it’s hard not to get caught up in the spectacle of Wagonsend. From outside town one catches the rich, savory scents of circus food, or hears the faint hum of organ music. Soon the gaudy lights of the attractions come into view, just beyond the next hill. Their shows run Thursday through Sunday, each and every one of them standing room only.
The current Ringmaster is Thornton Fessler, a sword swallower and career circus man with a great deal of business savvy. He’s able to pick out the most favorable terms of any contract and can
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negotiate a gunfighter out of his trusty sidearm if given enough time.
His family members have moved into the dual roles of performer and politician. His wife, Susie Fessler, is the town Barker, while his brother, Ezra, is the Strongman—and incidentally one of the best jugglers ever seen ’round these parts. Under their leadership, the town has prospered as an attraction to normal folk and a safe haven for carnies—and those who might be considered “freaks”
somewhere else.
It’s difficult to tell how many people live in Wagonsend at any given time.
The constant flow of people in and out of the city means that except for the winter months—when the sideshows
“come home” and the tourists tend to stay home—there’s no consistency from day to day. At best guess, there’s a minimum of 1,000 people in and around Wagonsend, but that can drop to 600 or rise to double that in the space of a few days. The city is most crowded with tourists and gawkers on weekends.
Small acts and gewgaw merchants line the main streets, entertaining visitors to the Circus of Wonders as they pass—and taking their money, of course! The Circus itself is an opulent, tent-shaped building capable of holding hundreds of people, situated so every street leads by twists and turns to its main gate. Smaller tents ring the building, serving as entranceways or individual acts and freak show booths.
With the amount of money that comes into the town, it’s natural for human greed to follow. Street vendors pass off overpriced, showy trinkets as collectibles, scams and rigged games of chance lie in every alley, bandits harass people heading to the town, and pickpockets are everywhere. Regular folk should keep an eye on their cash and weapons when walking around Wagonsend, or they might end up losing both.
Points of Interest
Here are some of the best-known, biggest, and most popular places in Wagonsend, as shown on the nearby map.
Big Top Saloon: Decorated in festive, circus-worthy colors, this tavern is popular among tourists but not often frequented by circus folk.
Circus of Wonders: The enormous, striped tent at the center of town houses the main event—the Circus of Wonders!
Fessler House: Here the Fessler Family dwells in vile evil, but you wouldn’t know that to look at the wholesome exterior. Inside, Susie Fessler invokes bloody rituals for her dark masters.
Funhouse: Located at the midpoint of the midway, the funhouse is always open for an afternoon’s diversion, with oddly distorting mirrors, confusing mazes, and halls designed to rattle and shake with the help of steam-powered pistons.
Some folks who go into the funhouse never come back out...
Midway: This long avenue passes for Main Street in Wagonsend, and leads to the Circus of Wonders itself. But all along its length are booths, games, shops, entertainers, refreshment stands, and the like, all for visitors’ amusement.
White Elephant Inn: A popular place for families who stay overnight, as well as the residence of undercover Texas Ranger Morgan Devon.
THE LOCALS
The people of Wagonsend are some of the most diverse in the West. Every sort of unusual specimen and nationality resides here, from dwarves to bearded ladies to Siamese twins and people of seemingly every place on earth.
A few abominations have found their way into Wagonsend as well, either as attractions or pets...but as you’ll see, Marshal, a few of the locals are worse than any critter the Reckoners could conjure up.
Thornton Fessler
Thornton Fessler is a capital showman, having come to Wagonsend after a few years of touring with his “Marinated Men Sideshow” act. He’d built up a decent bit of a reputation among other performers as a fellow who would fight for the right cause at the right times.
His wavy hair and neatly trimmed beard allowed him to put on civil clothes and appear almost as a proper gentleman. This had the effect of disarming a good number of bureaucrats and politicians who sought to sneak out of their contracts. If they saw his show, the sword-swallowing, fire-breathing, flaming whip, and bed of nails tricks never failed to crank up the intimidation factor.
When Thornton, his wife, and brother first set foot in Wagonsend, they saw a city rife with potential. When the next Ringmaster elections came, Thornton threw his hat into the ring, winning a close race. He’s been so popular since then, though, that he won the most recent election in a landslide.
It didn’t hurt that his closest competitor had a sudden engagement in New York he just had to attend, leaving in the middle of the night. Nowadays, Thornton’s word is pretty much law, and the people of Wagonsend obey with little question.
• Thornton Fessler: See page 124